N.Y. Mets: Opening Day at Citi Field

From the desk of:  HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

OPENING DAY at CITI FIELD

With Joan Hodges in attendance, Gil Hodges Jr. 

throws ceremonial first pitch to Ed Kranepool.

New York Mets: Thor's Hammer Still Lacks Polish.

The Mets have a wonderfully rich Opening Day history and tradition which now spans 58 years and three ball parks.  Despite Thursday's loss against the Nationals, they still own a stellar 37-21 (.638) Opening Day record.

Polo Grounds: 0-2
Shea Stadium: 30-15
Citi Field: 7-4

On this day, however, the Mets are whitewashed 0-4 by the Nationals.  They've now faced Washington four times with each team winning twice.  I believe this an indication of things to come.  While the Mets have yet to play the Phillies and Braves, I expect all four N.L. East foes spending the better part of their respective summers beating each other (and the Marlins) senseless.  The first team to achieve 90 wins likely captures the division crown.

I find Noah Syndergaard's starts increasingly disturbing.  This is because he insists on working harder instead of pitching smarter.  There's a lot to be said for being a craftsman.  Despite great stuff, he is continually struggling with inefficiency and runaway pitch counts.  If he is not overpowering opposing hitters, they're usually fouling off pitch after pitch after pitch.  Before you know it, he's out of the game by the sixth inning.  Part of his problem is his failure to hone an out pitch.  In the meantime, he should be rethinking how to best utilize his repertoire and stop trying to blow batters away all the time.  Thursday's start was merely more of the same.  He was done by the sixth inning after throwing 98 pitches, not before allowing two earned runs on just one hit (a home run by Victor Robles), with two walks and six strikeouts.

If the Mets looked asleep at the plate, it's because they probably were.  Major league schedule makers thought it a good idea to have the Mets play a night game at Miami; spring a surprise drug test on them; make them board a plane that doesn't touch down in New York until 3am; then schedule a 1pm game that afternoon.  We all get Stephen Strasburg is a good pitcher.  But four hits and 14 strikeouts?

C'mon ...

That's MLB sanctioned Opening Day sabotage.